450 replies to this topic

[SBTarheel]

Lillard is the only player besides Oscar to have at least 20 points and 7 assists in his first 3 games.

Wow! That's impressive.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Lillard is the only player besides Oscar to have at least 20 points and 7 assists in his first 3 games.

Nice. I did see the factoid where he, Oscar and Zeke were the only ones to ever have at least 20 points and 10 assists in their NBA debut. That's pretty rare and select company.

[mweb08]

I'm not sure about that Pistons over bet Seth; they looked dreadful tonight and now are 0-3.

[SBTarheel]

I'm not sure about that Pistons over bet Seth; they looked dreadful tonight and now are 0-3.

Yea, they looked awful tonight. Rodney Stuckey has been embarassingly bad so far. I did take Atlanta over (nice win in OKC last night), and a few others, but Detroit OVER was my biggest bet.

[SportsGuy]

Lillard is the only player besides Oscar to have at least 20 points and 7 assists in his first 3 games.

Pretty safe to say that had he played for a major D1 school, that he would have been a top 5ish pick.

[mweb08]

Pretty safe to say that had he played for a major D1 school, that he would have been a top 5ish pick.

Well since you put the ish in there, I'd say he already was since he was picked 6th. But yeah, maybe he would have went higher if he played at a bigger program.

[Adam Wolff]

Pretty safe to say that had he played for a major D1 school, that he would have been a top 5ish pick.

Well, he was picked 6th, so not too far away even out of Weber State

[SportsGuy]

Well, he was picked 6th, so not too far away even out of Weber State

Oh my mistake...I was thinking he went around 14th or so.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Pretty safe to say that had he played for a major D1 school, that he would have been a top 5ish pick.

As mentioned, he was as close as you can get to Top 5. Also, while he was considered a more polished product coming out of college (despite the level of competition he mostly faced), he doesn't have the athleticism or high-ceiling of guys like Rose, Westbrook, Wall, etc. Most reports I read on him before the season had him somewhere between an average starting PG to a little above average. But he was viewed as a guy who from Day 1 could start, run a good pick-and-roll, and score....and that was exactly what Portland had to get out of the draft, and they couldn't wait until their #11 pick because he would have been gone by then.

[mweb08]

If I had access to this info, I would have felt much more confident in Harden as a max player:

Really an alpha dog?
James Harden per 36 minutes by teammate

Teammate MIN PTS REB AST FG% 3FG% FT% 3PA fga fta
Both 1163 13.3 4.5 3.6 46 39 83 4.6 8.8 4.1
Alone 460 32.6 4.7 6.2 53 39 83 7.1 18.2 13.1
Durant only 250 22.8 5.5 3.6 49 40 96 6.2 13.2 7.6
Westbrook only 63 22.3 4.6 5.1 55 50 81 4.6 11.4 9.1
TOTAL 1936 19.4 4.7 4.3 49 39 85 5.4 11.7 6.9

From this (insider): http://insider.espn.... ... o-1-option

[Pedro Cerrano]

I thought the Harden trade was bad for the Thunder when it happened and it's looking really really bad now.

What a stud.

[Oriole85]

ESPN: Lakers' Steve Blake fined $25K

http://espn.go.com/l...y/_/id/8600264/

[Mike B]

I thought the Harden trade was bad for the Thunder when it happened and it's looking really really bad now.

What a stud.

I thought it would hurt the Thunder short term but it might prove very good long term. If Harden makes the Rockets an averae team the draft picks may prove less valuable.

[mweb08]

I thought it would hurt the Thunder short term but it might prove very good long term. If Harden makes the Rockets an averae team the draft picks may prove less valuable.

The picks aren't from the Rockets. Protected picks from Toronto and Dallas.

[Mike B]

The picks aren't from the Rockets. Protected picks from Toronto and Dallas.

Thanks...the Toronto pick could be a good one.

[SportsGuy]

The picks aren't from the Rockets. Protected picks from Toronto and Dallas.

Are they lottery protected or like top 5 protected?

[mweb08]

Are they lottery protected or like top 5 protected?

Toronto's is top 3 protected this year, top 2 next year, and top 1 until 2018 when it's not protected. Dallas' pick is top 20 protected until 2018 when it's not protected.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Bulls and OKC getting ready to go to the 4th on TNT. Chicago up 6.

[Adam Wolff]

Westbrook really holds OKC back sometimes. Some nights he just needs to realize he doesn't have his shot and become more of a facilitator. He does have 11 assists, but he's 6-21 and this kind of stuff is all too common with him.

[Adam Wolff]

And not that it's news to anyone, but Durant might be the best combo of absolutely clutch/talented player and great guy/teammate.